October 19, 2007

I bought a cheap, at $6.00, domestic 2-lb baby edam cheese ball for the Via Mare recipe. The aged edam from the Netherlands that traveled to Manila before being exported here in the US (it went on a trip more than halfway around the world) is much too expensive to make into a vegetables and bread sticks dip. The same aged Edam balls I buy from the Phil Asia grocery are available at igourmet and amazon for almost double the price. This NY-made cheese although young is not bad at all as a dip or sandwich filling. I love it on Trisquits, saltines, pan de sal, and toasted wheat bread and vegetable sticks, of course.

Slice about ¼ off the top of the cheese ball. Remove the wax from the sliced top and cut the cheese into cubes. Using a melon baller, carefully scoop out the cheese leaving ½ inch of the cheese close to the rind, set the shell aside.

In a food processor, process the cheese, 1 tablespoon brandy, butter, and nutmeg until smooth. While running add another tablespoon of brandy and the caraway seeds and process for another 30 seconds. Fill the cheese shell with the cheese paste, keep the extra for refill. Serve with very cold vegetable sticks such as carrots, celery, and jicama, and with bread sticks or saltines as an appetizer. Refrigerate leftovers, bring to room temperature before serving.

The original recipe has 4 tablespoons of brandy which I find too strong. Reducing the amount of brandy by half makes the cheese paste taste better. Sometimes alcohol is not a good thing. If you are serving the cheese to children or if you don't like alcohol, mayonnaise would be a good substitute.